What does secured mean?
Secured is the past tense and past participle of secure, and it functions both as a verb and as an adjective. In its most familiar sense, it means protected against danger, loss, or interference, or firmly fastened in place: the team secured the building and checked that every entrance was secured. It also means obtained or successfully acquired, as when a candidate secures a position or a company secures funding. In another common sense, it means ensured: she secured permission to leave early. The adjective secured can describe a loan, debt, boundary, or position that is protected or firmly established. The word is widely used in formal, legal, financial, and workplace English. Its history comes ultimately from Latin securus, meaning 'free from care or danger,' through Old French. The related noun security preserves the same sense of safety and protection.
To fasten, protect, or make safe; to obtain or acquire; or to ensure that something occurs or is achieved.
"The authorities secured the area and prevented further damage."
The senses 'protect or fasten,' 'obtain or acquire,' and 'ensure' are all common. In the last sense, it is often followed by a noun such as permission, funding, agreement, or opportunity.
Protected, fastened, firmly established, or successfully obtained.
"The company has a secured position in the market."
Common in legal and financial combinations such as secured loan, secured debt, and secured position.
Secured can mean both physically fastened and psychologically reassured, so a locked door and a confident decision can each be described as secured.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does secured come from?
The word derives from the Latin adjective securus, meaning 'free from care or danger.' It entered Middle English through Old French, where it could mean safe, sure, or free from anxiety. The development of the verb forms, including the modern form secure and its past form secured, reflects the older sense of making something safe or free from danger.
Related word forms
How secured is actually used
The word is common in formal and professional contexts, especially in finance, law, security, and management. As an adjective, it can indicate that something is protected or fastened; as a participle, it often means 'made safe' but can also mean 'obtained.'
Easily confused with secured
Secure is the base form used to describe something safe or to make something safe, while secured is its past-tense and past-participle form, as in 'the door is secured' or 'she secured the door.'